They booked their place in the Champions League Final on May 28 after breaking Real Madrid’s resistance in the 54th minute.

A wonderful through ball from Andres Iniesta pierced Madrid and Pedro ran on to score.

There was no coming back from 3-0 down on aggregate for Jose Mourinho’s side, although they did get a faint hope when Marcelo scored after 64 minutes.

United will surely complete their job tonight at Old Trafford against Schalke to set up a dream fi nal. Lionel Messi against Wayne Rooney is mouth watering.

The goal was the signal for Madrid to get frustrated and Lassana Diarra was booked for a heavy challenge on Sergio Busquets.

But there was no war this time, just a big battle for Madrid to stop bitter rivals Barca completing the job. It was too much for them.

They were lucky to still be holding on at half-time as goalkeeper Iker Casillas made four fi ne saves.

It was intense and absorbing, with the only mystery over the whereabouts of Mourinho.

The controversial Madrid manager, banned from the touch- line, was nowhere to be seen.

At least his players turned up to fi ght for the miracle they needed. A goal would always kill them off and Barcelona deserved their breakthrough.

Out of the blue Madrid clawed a goal back in the 64th minute when Angel Di Maria hit the post and passed the rebound to Marcelo, who thumped it home.

The fi rst booking came after 12 minutes when Ricardo Carvalho, suspended for last week’s fi rst leg, brought down Messi.

The former Chelsea defender protested his innocence but TV replays showed Belgium referee Frank De Bleeckere got it right. He was not going to allow any more nonsense between the sides.

Carvalho was lucky not to be sent off with another foul on Messi. A third challenge before half-time was suspect and again the ref didn’t produce a red card.

The start had been so important for Real. Cristiano Ronaldo declared their intent with surging runs in the opening minutes.

But Barcelona should have scored first when Busquets headed a clear chance straight at Casillas.

Barcelona’s extra class and pass-and-move football began to control the match.

Where was Jose? Mourinho, of course, had dominated the build- up. He just had to, didn’t he?

Rumours swept the Nou Camp that he would stay at Madrid’s hotel a few minutes from the stadium and watch it on TV.

We have been here before with him when he was at Chelsea in 2005 and again banned from the touchline.

He beat that by hiding in the laundry basket and getting into the dressing room. Surely, with his side 2-0 down, he had to be with the players. Barcelona had no idea what he intended to do.

The information they sent to Madrid about Mourinho’s reserved seat in a VIP area brought no response.

It simply added to the aggravation between these rivals.

Mourinho has been at the centre of all controversy since the semi-fi nal draw was made and he wasn’t stopping now.

He caused a surprise with his selection, pushing Brazilian Kaka into the battle ahead of Emmanuel Adebayor.

Here was Kaka’s chance to show the form that has deserted him for so long. Mourinho also left out Mesut Ozil.

Kaka just doesn’t look the player he once was. He looked rusty, short of match practice and in the fi rst half was simply the man with a famous name.

A tropical storm that lasted for an hour ahead of kick-off simply added to the atmosphere. It certainly made the surface ripe for sliding tackles and exaggerated challenges.

Surely, the players would see sense and not repeat the disgraceful scenes that turned last week’s fi rst leg into such a wretched occasion.

The backdrop had been of more accusations, this time of racism against Barcelona from Madrid

Barca coach Pep Guardiola admitted he was sick of playing Madrid and just wanted to get this second leg over and reach Wembley.

Xavi called Madrid pathetic and the crowd made it clear what they felt when Real came out to warm up – the boos and whistles were deafening.

The fi rst bad tackle of the game was, ironically, made by Kaka on Busquets. Then Raul Albiol body- checked Iniesta. At least there was no rolling over in agony.

There was always Messi, whose two wonderful goals last week separated the sides. He danced through the puddles to bring moments of fantasy to this intense battle. After 31 minutes he created a chance for himself and sent Casillas fl ying through the air to save.

Then Messi drove wide when he should have hit the target. Messi slipped David Villa through and Casillas again saved his side. The Madrid keeper was undoubtedly the fi rst-half hero.

Just as the teams kicked off for the second half an idiot fan invaded the pitch and raced around before hitting Ronaldo on the head with a red hat.

It galvanised Ronaldo into a run that took him past three opponents before he was penalised for diving over the fourth challenge.